We bring to your kind notice a horrible case of rape and murder of a teenager, Gudiya, in the otherwise peaceful and serene Shimla Hills and hope that yourkindself will direct the callous State Government to act in this matter as per the constitutional obligations of the State.

May we place the facts of the case hereunder:

◆Who is Gudiya? This is pseudonym of a girl who used to walk every day to her school and back home for around three hours. It is relevant to state here that her approach to school was through a jungle at around 7,500 feet altitude. Even so, she was determined to complete her high school education as do thousands of other girls in this Hill State.However, her dreams alongwith those of her family were shattered by the barbaric acts of a few local goons.On July 4th, 2017,after she left home her family members and friends did not even thought that they will never see her again.

◆Her mutilated naked dead body was found in the jungle of Dandi and incidentally spotted after two days.Her body was in very poor shape as she was met with the most heinous crime never ever heard in the history of this otherwise peaceful State. She was raped by several delinquents. She was physically tortured as even her limbs were broken and thereafter strangulated to death. The place where her body was found was a deserted jungle, but there was no sign of soiling of her body or animal attack on the corpse meaning thereby she was raped and murdered in some nearby secure house.

◆Crimes against the women in the Hill State have been taking place earlier also. Recently, some more cases of molestation, abduction and rape of minors have takenplace. Even after this dastardly act of July 04, 2017, some more such incidents have taken place. By all means, this case is so horrendous and painful and it is not even possible to find a similar instance for comparison.

◆It is very ironical that the suspects who were being zeroed by the local police were let loose later after the intervention of the senior police officers. It is believed that real culprits were let free and instead some poor labourers were stage-managed as the culprits. And,it is widely believed that to confess the crime they were offered huge sum of money. One of the accused has beenmurdered under the police custody and one of the detainee has been named as the murder. It is not evident till date why the police officials have not been named in the murder case? Such cold blooded murder under police custody has further raised the suspicion of the public about the integrity of the police.

◆Consequent of these incidents, anguish and anger of the public has grown further. For many days now massive protests have been taking place throughout the State to seek justice for Gudiya and these are intensifying further, but official apathy is beyond imagination. The whole populace of Himachal Pradesh is so anguished that every day school kids to senior citizens, various social organizations, students and youth organizations, and political parties are agitating continuously for more than the last twenty days.

◆The response of the State Government to this reprehensible crime has been horrible. Not only in the above stated crafty management to save the real culprits, of this case, Sh. Virbhadra Singh ji, Chief Minister Himachal Pradesh, shocked all by stating that rape and murder take placeeverywhere and nothing was unusual with this case.

◆Under pressure the State Government has transferred the case to CBI but in the background stated above what can be expected from any probe if the evidences collected or rather ‘produced’ are now the only resources for the investigating agency. We still apprehend the State Government and its police may play tricks to divert any seemingly lead in this case.

◆This heinous crime has shaken the collective consciousness of the people of Himachal Pradesh on many counts. Firstly, the nature of crime committed has no parallel in the history of the State. Secondly, the crime has exposed the nexus between the neo-rich criminal and the State apparatus. Thirdly, the police can go to any extent to appease their masters and destroy evidence and use stage actors to save the real culprits. Fourthly, it exposed the mindset of the police officers and the Chief Minister and his government and their insensitivity to the whole incident. Fifthly, IT Cell of the Chief Minister’s Office put pictures of some accused of the case on his website, but later the same were deleted. Such act from the top Executive of the State is not a simple case of posting and deleting of a message. It points to some more serious issues related to this case. Sixthly, even the constitutional head of the State, His Excellency Governor, Himachal Pradesh, is playing opinionated game and rebuking those who are demanding justice for the victim.

◆In view of the above stated, as the platform to seek justice for Gudiya, we humbly file this petition before your kindself:

1. We seek justice for Gudiya. The rape and the murder case should be expeditiously investigated and soon the real culprits should be brought to book who are enjoying immunity courtesy state police managed investigations.

2. Mamta, the widow of the nepali labourer Suraj who was killed under police custody has made some public statements about the facts of this case. We seek that her statement should be recorded before a Magistrate.

3. Other recent cases of rape should also be properly investigated and culprits brought to book so that the victims get justice.

4. Law and order situation in the State is abysmally poor. Apart from these painful incidents of rape of the minors, a forest guard, who was a man of integrity and resisting the loot of the forest mafias, was killed and hanged from a tree upside down. The police termed the incident as suicide case. This incident is best illustration to understand the professional integrity and competence of the Himachal Pradesh police.

5. Police officers involved in this case, starting from the Director General of Police should be terminated from service and processed legally in view of their role in the sloppy and shameful investigations in both these cases.

We hope His Excellency will direct the state government to act in manner that ensures justice to all the victim and law and order situation is resorted so that a normal citizen of the State feels safe to live a life of dignity.